FIRESTONE -- A proposed firearms training center has gone back into the holster.

The Second Amendment Firearms Experience withdrew its plans Tuesday to build near Colo. Highway 66 and Weld County Road 17, saying it wanted more time to redesign the facility. A request to annex into the town of Firestone also was postponed until April 24.

"I'd rather take a little extra time now and have it be magnificent," said Ron Abramson, managing partner and chief firearms instructor of SAFE.

The SAFE center had been controversial with neighbors, who regularly packed hearings to express their worries about the shooting noise, the effects on wildlife, and the lack of voice that neighbors who aren't in Firestone would have. Roughly 100 people came Tuesday to address the town board, which was expected to give a yes-or-no vote on the project.

"I'm not sure what to say," said Bruce Wilson, a neighbor who had opposed the project since it first became widely known in December. "Obviously we're happy the gun range isn't going in, but we'll have to see what comes up next. I'm disappointed we had absolutely no opportunity to speak."

Firestone's planning commission had recommended approving the firearms training center on Tuesday after nine hours of hearings, spread out over two days. Planners will have to hold a fresh set of hearings when SAFE submits a new application; the commission also has been asked to take another look at the master plan and zoning changes that the site would require.

"I think we'll probably have to buy the planning commission dinner for asking them to go through this process again," Trustee Matt Holcomb said.

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SAFE plans to build the center in the midst of a 900-acre site known as the Kurtz Ranch. The most recent design included seven covered ranges -- for both shelter and noise reduction -- along with classrooms and a retail area, a "shoot house" practice area and a video training simulator. Outdoor ranges had been part of the original design as well, but after discussions with wildlife officials about the proximity of an eagle nesting area, SAFE first moved the outdoor ranges farther away and then removed them altogether.

Abramson said that was the main reason for the delay -- to do more sound engineering and find a way to safely bring the outdoor ranges back.

"Some people remarked that we had scaled back too much by eliminating the outdoor ranges," he said.

Don Jones, the property manager for the ranch since 1992, said the annexation would give the Kurtz family more time to market the property during the delay and explore its options. If the gun center were to fall through or be rejected, he said "the Kurtz family is left with a property diminished in value by the objectors."

While the hearings have been intense, they've also mostly been civil. Before the aborted hearings, Mayor Chad Auer encouraged that to continue but also noted one of the few exceptions -- an individual, he said, who had accused Auer of having a business relationship with Abramson.

"That accusation is categorically false," he said. "My personal legal counsel has informed me that such statements could meet the legal definition of slander. But we'll settle that in another legal venue at another time."

Auer also reminded neighbors that land uses would not stay the same and growth would come -- a contention Wilson didn't deny.

"I agree with the mayor that growth is coming," he said. "We're not afraid of growth. What we're scared of is a lack of a voice."

Abramson said the application would likely not return until after the April 24 vote on the Firestone annexation.

"I'm excited," he said. "I think we'll come to a point where we can accommodate everyone."Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com.

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